


things left unsaid

by asynchrony



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Gen, Microfic, avengerkink, can be used as prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-29
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-11-19 22:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 100
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asynchrony/pseuds/asynchrony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>microfics (10 or 20 words). updated once or twice a day.</p><p>derived from avengerkink prompts, watching rpers on tumblr, or the movie itself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Coercion

They watch Tony comply.

"He's only a civilian", Natasha whispers.


	2. Helicarrier

"There's red in my ledger." Her tension spoke of new death.

Clint didn't dare ask who—or at whose hand.


	3. Aftermath

He did indeed take her apart in all the ways that hurt her most.

Loki had no part in it.


	4. Trust

Steve's hands feel too much like Obadiah's, and Tony panics.


	5. Funeral

They buried a new set of trading cards with him.


	6. Invested

Tony never made omelets again, because they made Pepper cry.


	7. Heroes

Tony remained unresponsive after his faceplate was torn off, and Steve suddenly understood why he had called Coulson an idiot.


	8. Weariness

It's always jarring to realize just how _old_ Thor is.


	9. Reunion

“Why didn’t you visit me last time?”

Thor couldn’t answer.


	10. Contagion

“HULK NO LIKE SICK.”

“Sorry, bud, you can’t smash germs.”


	11. Detritus

“DID STARK INDUSTRIES ENGINEER THE ALIEN INVASION TO SHOWCASE STARK TOWER? THE TRUTH IS REVEALED!”

Pepper laughed until she cried.


	12. Restraints

It shouldn’t be so surprising that Tony can’t tolerate bondage.


	13. Dummy

They accidentally learnt that the Hulk didn’t like being extinguished.


	14. Kinship

Barney’s misdeeds seem trivial next to Loki’s; Clint wonders how Thor can mourn his brother, yet hope for him still.


	15. Conscience

She finally notices the missed call notification twenty minutes later.


	16. Empowerment

Her body, its actions beyond her control, was once a weapon whose kill count she can’t remember.   
Bruce’s still is.


	17. Submission

Years pass, and he still dreams of being Loki’s again.


	18. Chitauri

Jarvis analyzes the samples from these clearly biomechanical bodies, and wonders what it would be like to occupy one himself.


	19. Loss

“Coulson’s down.”  
His gamble cost him everything.  
“They called it.”  
It would be years before he allowed himself to mourn.


	20. Pragmatic

Tony’s not the old-fashioned kind of sacrificial: his weapons have killed too many, and he’s just trying to save more.


	21. Memorial

It’s surreal, looking up at a statue commemorating your life.


	22. Fretting

Tony already slept too little and drank too much.

Bullets, drones, now nukes - sometimes Pepper wishes Iron Man never existed.


	23. Kevlar

If Loki had controlled Coulson, Clint thinks he’d have won.

(Why didn't he? And would that have been any better?)


	24. Namesake

Fury knows both Marias to be kind, wise, and brave.


	25. Heart

They were both conscious during the procedures altering them permanently.


	26. Vibranium

Steve was trained to shield others, Natasha to shield herself: she doesn't understand his honesty, nor he her constant wariness.


	27. Avenge

Nobody was very happy about Loki only facing Asgardian justice.


	28. Wreath

“Jarvis? Delete Agent from Pep’s Christmas invites.”

“Already done, sir.”


	29. Displacement

He’s just a soldier.

Coulson reminds him of the hero he never was, Stark of the one he’ll never be.


	30. Orders

Rhodes is military.   
Steve finds this reassuring.  
Bruce _really_ doesn't.


	31. Assassin

She hasn't known honesty for decades, yet they all trust her.  
For once, Natasha isn't sure if she wants this.


	32. Nevertheless

Despite everything, Pepper Potts knew she would always come back.


	33. Decor

Rumor had it that nobody could ambush Fury: it didn’t account for his children, currently gleefully wrapping him in tinsel.


	34. Leather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently country-hopping, apologies for the delay. I'll try my best to obtain internet ASAP wherever I am.

Nobody expected Captain America to drive like an utter madman.


	35. Tribute

WHO IS PHILLIP COULSON, and why has the Maria Stark Foundation funded a scholarship in his name? Stark won't comment.


	36. Nativity

Between the ‘war on Christmas’ headlines and the extravagant materialism, Steve thought his meagre celebrations as a child beat today’s.


	37. Inventor

"You made me a shoe vending machine?!"  
"You like it?"


	38. Alexithymia

He could've died a hero, never seen the cacophony of this future. What use is he against aliens and robots?


	39. Inevitable

Clint knows he'll die first. People seem to think he's extraordinary, but he's not immortal (and he's glad he isn't).


	40. Garish

“No, Clint, the Helicarrier didn’t need to be ‘festively decorated’.”


	41. Otherworld

Thor returns Christmas Eve, announcing that Coulson's safe in Valhalla.


	42. Paradox

All they can do is resist. Intergalactical opponents are unstoppable forces: even being immovable won't save them - or Earth - someday.


	43. Mortification

When Steve discovered fanfiction, he was unbearably awkward for weeks.


	44. Laughter

Pepper and Bruce become close friends as soon as they meet, and Tony gets jealous. (They laugh about that too.)


	45. Sweatpants

Fourteen SHIELD agents are caught viewing footage of Steve's workouts.


	46. Intoxication

He won't admit it, but Tony no longer enjoys parties.


	47. Loquacious

If there's one thing everyone knows about Clint Barton, it's that he never shuts up.

After Loki, he doesn't speak.


	48. Midnight

Their resolution is simple: to always have each other's backs.


	49. Attention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In rural Malaysia. Very limited internet. Sorry for the wait!

Men leer, regardless where she is or what she wears. Even after years of exploiting that, it still unnerves her.


	50. Facepalm

"Knock knock."  
" _Tony_ , I'm in a very important meeting."  
"Put me on speaker. I'm sure they'll appreciate the joke too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of starting another multi-chapter like this one, except about a running gag the Avengers have with knock knock jokes. Thoughts/ideas/interested in collab?


	51. Factory

General Ross finds exactly 1337 bottles of a certain brightly-colored soda on his doorstep. The note reads: "Fuck you. -Stark"


	52. Fanboy

Rhodey has his own set of Captain America trading cards.


	53. Empathy

"Eyepatch?" Hulk asked, once.   
Surprisingly, Fury apparently told him the story.   
Less surprisingly, Hulk has been protective of Fury since.


	54. Libertarian

The media's assumptions are wrong: Steve's a Democrat. Tony isn't.


	55. Impermissible

Fury's, well, _Fury_. That doesn't mean he doesn't miss love.


	56. Magnetism

Steve can't help observing Tony's every move, his words, his _eyes_. A moth drawn to a flame, he thinks bitterly.


	57. Reclusion

He's assassinated politicians and been consciously, personally responsible for worse, but he flinches at any reminder of every Loki-related casualty.


	58. Synagogue

He's knelt in many a temple during his journeys; they bring more peace to this atheist than should be possible.


	59. Omission

Coulson, despite his prowess with paperwork, hadn't prepared a will.


	60. Totalitarian

The first thing SHIELD agents learn is this: the more spotless a nation's reputation, the more reason to ask questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this having just left one such country. Home soon- expect more frequent updates then.


	61. Stockholm

"Tony," she says, just like that, _"Tony"_. It means "you're incorrigible, Mr. Stark", but it also means "I love you".


	62. Gifts

Pepper once gave Phil cufflinks to complement his newest tie. He gave her a SHIELD-issue taser. 

It's been useful since.


	63. Migraine

he's a goddamn superhero and this isn't,

isn't even flashbacks but-

 

he's so weak.  
 _mortal._

 

he usually forgets that.

 

(deliberately.)


	64. Deprecating

It's not fair, Tony thinks; Bruce strives to do right by a world which doesn't deserve him. Tony doesn't either.


	65. Reassurance

"It'll be okay," she promises, when that's what he needs from her. Lying always was her job description after all.


	66. Explicit

There's porn parodies of them. This offends Tony more than it offends Steve, much to the amusement of the others.


	67. Throng

Clint, having lost a dare, stood on the sidewalk wearing a "Free Hugs" shirt for eight hours - and got mobbed.


	68. Homelessness

On Asgard, he's "Midgard's Thor". 

Here, he'll always be too new to keep pace, and yet too old to belong.


	69. Sermon

The priest meets Steve's eyes when he says, "We're taught to admire soldiers and superheroes, but they're just glorified murderers."


	70. Bros

After Thor brings back mead, they rapidly become drinking buddies. (Tony still thinks Clint has shit taste in beer, though.)


	71. Stars

Steve finds that he's quite fond of _Super Mario Galaxy_.


	72. Dysphoria

This body was supposed to finally reflect who he was inside, but sometimes Steve wakes up feeling like it's _worse_.


	73. Serum

All the guesses at Natasha's age have been spectacularly wrong.


	74. Unattainable

He carefully saves every newspaper clipping about Betty, even now.


	75. Normalcy

He often thinks about quitting SHIELD, but never follows through.


	76. Irreplaceable

Nobody else can handle civilians as well as Phil did.


	77. Monotony

Everyday life, even (perhaps especially) for Tony Stark, gets boring.


	78. Catcall

Watching men try to chat up Natasha is particularly hilarious.


	79. Nobility

Thor is no god. He was born into greatness, while his companions sacrificed much for it: _they_ deserve the title.


	80. Debugging

"What's so funny, Stark?"  
"Reading code out loud. It's _hysterical_."


	81. Nairobi

He's a transient soul, at the end of the day. 

They really shouldn't be so surprised that he's leaving again.


	82. Race

Having accidentally insulted Pepper's choice in footwear, Bruce is challenged to a race in high heels.

Pepper wins, of course.


	83. Pride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Auckland Pride Festival this month, and I'm speaking/participating in a few things :)

Thor goes to the parade, becoming an instant LGBT icon.


	84. Anhedonia

What does it matter if it's because she's had to weaponize sex before? She's asexual now, and that's perfectly valid.


	85. War

"It wasn't worth it," Tony breathes, Steve lying motionless under his frantic armored hands, "it wasn't, it wasn't, I'm _sorry_ —"


	86. Post-Traumatic

Regardless what they needed, none of them could wake up screaming: control over their reactions was all they had left.


	87. Downtime

For Bruce, being able to see Natasha with her hair up and her feet bare is a privilege he cherishes.


	88. Retreat

"You couldn't just 'take a break' during the _war_ , Tony!"


	89. Speech

Tony improvises a brilliant speech, as always. 

He usually doesn't miss MIT, but—  
he actually got complimented on occasion, y'know?


	90. Reinvention

She's considered changing her name to something the Red Room didn't force on her, but what would be the point?


	91. Kneel

Clint found safety in submission, once; Loki ruined even that.


	92. Alarm

Steve rushes in to find Natasha scowling at burnt brownies.


	93. Queer

He comes out, knowing the other Avengers have his back.


	94. Karaoke

Clint and Tony declare a karaoke battle. It ends... badly.


	95. Sold

Tony's terrible at auctions: no matter what it is, he feels the need to win just as he would elsewhere.


	96. Evangelism

Too often, Bruce comes across villages fragmented by missionaries past. 

They don't trust him, and that's reassuring.

He doesn't either.


	97. Résumé

He doesn't want to live solely off Stark's charity, but applying for work these days appears to be rather... complicated.


	98. Frostbite

Now it's warmer, his bones have stopped aching so badly.


	99. Blackout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. PTSD was playing up.

"Don't worry, Cap," he murmurs, quickly succumbing to painless sleep.


	100. Rescue

He'd just gotten used to having someone to come home to when he answered that call:

"Pepper's hurt, Tony. Badly."


End file.
